15 And he said to them, "Go
into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be
condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they
will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up
serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt
them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." 19 So
then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and
sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached
everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by
accompanying signs.

Suppose I asked what the mission
of the church is--how would you answer? Although the church accomplishes many
tasks, its only message to the world is the gospel of Christ. Everything else we
do is merely an extension of that primary goal. The gospel we offer the lost is
superior to every worldly philosophy. Never outdated or in need of correction,
it is always sufficient to meet humanity's greatest need: reconciliation with
the Creator.

Although the message is always the
same, methods of making it known are many--including the spoken word, music,
printed material, and electronic media. But all these avenues of communication
require the individual involvement of God's people. It is every Christian's
responsibility to use his or her spiritual gifts, talents, and abilities to
help fulfill the Great Commission.

Some Christians think that this
role is given only to pastors, missionaries, or other people with an
"up-front ministry." But all of us have the responsibility to be
involved in whatever way we are able and in whatever opportunity God gives us.
Not everybody is called to go abroad as a missionary, but we all can give,
pray, and tell friends and family what the Lord has done for us.

When you're truly committed to
getting the gospel out, God will reveal what work He is calling you to do. He
has a place for every one of us--nobody is insignificant or unusable. The
limiting factor is not the Lord's ability to use us but our availability to His
call.